Advanced Search
MyIDEAS: Login

Infrastructure and regional growth in the European Union

Contents:

Author Info

  • Crescenzi, Riccardo
  • Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés

Abstract

Transport infrastructure has represented one of the cornerstones of development and cohesion strategies in the European Union (EU) and elsewhere in the world. However, despite the considerable funds devoted to it, its impact remains controversial. This paper revisits the question of to what extent transport infrastructure endowment -- proxied by regional motorways -- has contributed to regional growth in the EU between 1990 and 2004. It analyses infrastructure in relationship to other factors which may condition economic growth, such as innovation, migration, and the local ‘social filter’, taking also into account the geographical component of intervention in transport infrastructure and innovation. The results of the two-way fixed-effect (static) and GMM-diff (dynamic) panel data regressions indicate that infrastructure endowment is a relatively poor predictor of economic growth and that regional growth in the EU results from a combination of an adequate ‘social filter’, good innovation capacity, both in the region and in neighbouring areas, and a region's capacity to attract migrants. The meagre returns of infrastructure endowment on economic growth raises interesting questions about the opportunity costs of further infrastructure investments across most of Western Europe.

Download Info

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
File URL: http://www.cepr.org/pubs/dps/DP8882.asp
Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org

As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.

Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 8882.

as in new window
Length:
Date of creation: Mar 2012
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8882

Contact details of provider:
Postal: Centre for Economic Policy Research, 77 Bastwick Street, London EC1V 3PZ
Phone: 44 - 20 - 7183 8801
Fax: 44 - 20 - 7183 8820

Order Information:
Email:

Related research

Keywords: Economic growth; European Union; Infrastructure; Innovation; Regions; Spillovers;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
as in new window
  1. Jan Fagerberg & Bart Verspagen & Marjolein Cani�ls, 1997. "Technology, Growth and Unemployment across European Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 31(5), pages 457-466.
  2. Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2004. "European Labour Mobility: Challenges and Potentials," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 460, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
  3. Vickerman, R W, 1995. "The Regional Impacts of Trans-European Networks," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 237-54, May.
  4. Edward Glaeser & Janet Kohlhase, 2003. "Cities, regions and the decline of transport costs," Papers in Regional Science, Springer, vol. 83(1), pages 197-228, October.
  5. Michael Storper & Anthony J. Venables, 2004. "Buzz: face-to-face contact and the urban economy," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(4), pages 351-370, August.
  6. Andres Rodriguez-Pose & Riccardo Crescenzi, 2006. "R&D, Spillovers, Innovation Systems and the Genesis of Regional Growth in Europe," ERSA conference papers ersa06p371, European Regional Science Association.
  7. Alfredo Pereira & Jorge Andraz, 2006. "Public investment in transportation infrastructures and regional asymmetries in Portugal," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 803-817, December.
  8. Jung Won Sonn & Michael Storper, 2008. "The increasing importance of geographical proximity in knowledge production: an analysis of US patent citations, 1975 – 1997," Environment and Planning A, Pion Ltd, London, vol. 40(5), pages 1020-1039, May.
  9. Annekatrin Niebuhr, 2006. "Market access and regional disparities," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 313-334, June.
  10. Roberto Esposti, 2007. "Regional Growth and Policies in the European Union: Does the Common Agricultural Policy Have a Counter-Treatment Effect?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 89(1), pages 116-134.
  11. Alfredo Marvao Pereira & Oriol Roca Sagalés, 2002. "Spillover effects of public capital formation : evidence from the spanish regions," Working Papers wpdea0210, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
  12. Brian Sloboda & Vincent Yao, 2008. "Interstate spillovers of private capital and public spending," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 505-518, September.
  13. Roger Vickerman & Klaus Spiekermann & Michael Wegener, 1999. "Accessibility and Economic Development in Europe," Regional Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 33(1), pages 1-15.
Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

Citations

Lists

This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.

Statistics

Access and download statistics

Corrections

When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8882

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ().

If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.

If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.

If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.